Bridging The Opportunity Gap: Our Statement on The Opportunity Index & Youth Jobs Gap

Bridging The Opportunity Gap: Our Statement on The Opportunity Index & Youth Jobs Gap

The Sutton Trust’s latest Opportunity Index lays bare a stark truth: where a young person grows up in England still determines their chances in life. The data reveals that while London continues to act as a hub of mobility, many other regions—particularly in the North—are being left behind.

Take this in: by age 28, young people who grew up on free school meals in East Ham earn on average £26,800, while those from Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West earn just £19,900. That’s a £6,900 pay gap not because of talent or ambition, but because of postcodes.

These aren’t isolated statistics—they are echoed, compounded, and intensified by findings from Impetus’ Youth Jobs Gap: Exploring Compound Disadvantage. This landmark report reveals that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are still twice as likely to be NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) as their better-off peers. Those with low qualifications, SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), and eligibility for free school meals face a NEET risk that is 180% above average. Geography isn’t just about job access—it’s about who is structurally locked out of future possibility.

At The YOUTHOOD Project, we believe that opportunity shouldn’t be limited by geography. These figures are not just numbers. They represent real lives, and futures being shaped by systemic inequality. It’s not acceptable that a young person in Leeds East is six times less likely to become a top earner than their peers in Ruislip Northwood and Pinner. Or that all top 20 constituencies for opportunity are found in London.

This report isn’t just a wake-up call, it’s a policy roadmap. The Sutton Trust’s recommendations are clear: from restoring pupil premium funding in real terms to expanding post-16 support and ending child poverty, there are tangible steps we can take.

But alongside economic mobility, we must tackle labour market exclusion—because even when young people secure qualifications, as Impetus shows, barriers like ethnicity, disability, and postcode still hold them back. A young person with SEND and low GCSE attainment in Hartlepool faces a drastically different future than one in Hertfordshire, regardless of drive or potential. That is the reality of compound disadvantage, and it's a reality we can no longer ignore.

At YOUTHOOD, we’re calling on government, employers, and education leaders to act with urgency. Investing in young people from Newcastle to Newham is not just a moral imperative, it’s a national one. We can’t keep talking about levelling up while letting down the very people who need opportunity most.

Let’s stop managing the symptoms of inequality and start addressing its root causes.

What Needs to Happen Next: Our Recommendations

To close the opportunity gap and reduce the sharp rise in youth inequality outlined by the Sutton Trust and Impetus, urgent and coordinated action is needed across all levels of society. At The YOUTHOOD Project, we’re calling for a bold shift—from managing inequality to dismantling it. Here’s what that looks like:

For Youth Services:

1. Design for compound disadvantage
Youth services must be designed with the reality that many young people face intersecting barriers—low qualifications, SEND, and socioeconomic hardship. Impetus research shows these young people are 180% more likely to be NEET than average. A one-size-fits-all approach fails to reach the young people who need support most. Services should be tailored, trauma-informed, and co-created with those facing multiple layers of disadvantage.

2. Establish Local Opportunity Hubs
Bringing together education, mental health, mentoring, and careers support in one trusted youth-centred space improves access and continuity. Case studies in the Impetus report—such as Resurgo and Sister System—demonstrate the power of blended, community-rooted interventions. These hubs are especially vital in places where public infrastructure is fragmented or underfunded. Investing in integrated youth spaces makes local support systems more effective and equitable.

3. Track impact with disaggregated data
Too often, youth outcomes are tracked in broad, unhelpful categories that mask deep inequalities. The Impetus report reveals that Black Caribbean and Mixed White & Black Caribbean young people have higher NEET rates even when not disadvantaged. Services must report outcomes by ethnic subgroup, SEND status, and qualification level. Disaggregated, localised data helps direct resources where they’re needed most.

4. Embed lived experience and representation
Staff and mentors with shared backgrounds foster trust and relevance in youth programmes. This is especially urgent for groups who feel unseen or misjudged in mainstream services—like young people from Roma, Traveller, or Mixed ethnic backgrounds. Embedding lived experience into leadership, delivery, and evaluation ensures services reflect real needs. Representation is not symbolic—it’s structural.

5. Expand outreach in left-behind regions
Geography remains one of the strongest predictors of opportunity. According to Impetus, eight of the ten highest-NEET local authorities are in the North or Midlands, and the Sutton Trust notes that none of the top 20 constituencies for social mobility are outside London. Yet youth services are often concentrated in already well-resourced urban areas. Expansion into under-served towns and rural communities is essential to close the opportunity gap.

For Local Government

1. Develop Youth Opportunity Strategies
Local authorities should use NEET and social mobility data to build targeted, place-based youth strategies. These plans must be co-designed with young people and grounded in the lived realities of their communities. The Sutton Trust highlights postcode-based earnings gaps of up to £6,900, while Impetus identifies stark local disparities in NEET risk. Local planning must move beyond generic youth policy and directly confront regional inequity.

2. Commission targeted NEET prevention programmes
Evidence-based, wraparound NEET prevention should be a commissioning priority. Programmes like Generation UK, evaluated by the DWP, report that 71% of participants are employed one year later, compared to just 26% before. This proves that long-term investment in high-quality interventions delivers outcomes. Councils should prioritise commissioning models that combine technical skills, personal support, and employer engagement.

3. Incentivise local employer engagement
Local authorities must help connect schools, youth services, and employers to create paid career pathways for disadvantaged youth. Youth Futures Foundation found that 25% of young people ranked guaranteed work experience as the most valuable intervention for accessing employment. Local job creation must be inclusive, with apprenticeships and placements aligned to growth sectors. Public sector procurement and regeneration funding should include youth employment clauses.

4. Protect and fund youth infrastructure
Youth centres, outreach programmes, and SEND-inclusive spaces must be protected from cuts. Impetus data makes clear that NEET young people live in every region—from Hackney to Hartlepool—so universal access is non-negotiable. Deprived areas cannot be left with skeleton youth provision while demand continues to rise. Councils must ringfence funding and actively rebuild youth infrastructure as a core service.

5. Create transition guarantees post-16
Leaving school or college is a vulnerable tipping point—especially for disadvantaged youth. Impetus reports that those NEET at ages 18–19 are 20% more likely to be unemployed a decade later. Local councils should offer transition guarantees: every school leaver should receive follow-up support into education, training, or work. No young person should fall through the cracks at a critical turning point.

For National Government

1. Restore Pupil Premium in real terms
The erosion of the Pupil Premium undermines its intended role in closing attainment gaps. The Sutton Trust has called for its real-terms value to be restored, warning that without it, the education gap will continue to widen. Long-term investment in disadvantage-responsive funding must be protected and tracked through to outcomes. Funding equity is the foundation of opportunity equity.

2. Deliver a National Youth Guarantee
The government must guarantee that all under-25s have access to education, training, or employment within four months of leaving a course or job. Backed by over 300 organisations via the Youth Employment Group, this policy could generate £69 billion in GDP if NEET rates dropped to 5%. The scale of youth unemployment requires more than ad-hoc schemes — it requires systemic commitment. A national guarantee is a baseline, not an ambition.

3. Expand and reform careers education
Careers guidance must start earlier, be ongoing, and be tailored to both academic and vocational futures. Impetus shows that even young people with mid-level qualifications face elevated NEET risks without sustained support, especially if they are disadvantaged. National policy should require appropriate and high-quality careers education from Year 8, with accountability for delivery and outcomes. Access to guidance should never depend on geography or school performance.

4. Launch a National Opportunity Data Dashboard
We can’t fix what we don’t measure. Impetus’ use of the LEO dataset uncovered trends invisible in headline averages, especially around ethnicity and SEND. A centralised, public-facing dashboard — linking education, employment, and welfare outcomes—should drive national investment decisions. Transparent, intersectional data is essential for accountable policymaking.

5. Adopt a cross-government child poverty strategy
Child poverty sits at the root of educational underachievement and employment exclusion. Over 2 million children in the UK live in poverty, and the Sutton Trust finds that FSM-eligible children fall behind as early as age 5. A joined-up national strategy—linking housing, welfare, education, and health—is essential to break the cycle. Ending child poverty is not just a moral imperative; it’s the prerequisite for equity in the adolescent experience.